2025/10/13 by Kristina Monsch, Monsch, Kristina, Joshua B. Lovell +25 · 2 voices
#astro-ph.EP #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2510.11819
We present high-resolution (\lesssim 0.1'') Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) imaging of the near edge-on (i∼80^∘) protoplanetary disk IRAS 23077+6707 ("Dracula's Chivito") obtained across six broadband filters spanning 0.4-1.6 μm. These observations unveil the scattered light from this unusually large disk (∼14'', or ∼4200 au at 300 pc) in remarkable detail, revealing a rich tapestry of substructures, including brightness asymmetries and signatures of dynamical activity. Extended filaments are detected extending ∼10'' from the northern edges of both nebulae, while no comparable southern features are observed. In addition to large-scale asymmetries, the disk exhibits prominent wispy features that extend well above the midplane and are visible in all filters, suggesting a complex, possibly turbulent outer disk atmosphere shaped by infall, dynamical stirring, or gravitational instability. The central dark lane narrows from optical to near-IR wavelengths, and high-resolution millimeter data reveal compact midplane emission. Although our radiative transfer simulations show that the current data cannot yet distinguish between dust settling and no-settling scenarios, they underscore the need for resolved mid-infrared observations of this unique system. IRAS 23077+6707 thus represents a rare and valuable laboratory for studying the vertical structure, asymmetries, and evolutionary state of protoplanetary disks.